Category Archives: Shopping for Real Food

Have you heard of Amazon’s subscribe and save program? If you’re a regular Amazon shopper, you’ve probably noticed that certain items give you the option to “subscribe” instead of just opting for a one-time purchase. If you haven’t been taking advantage of this program, you’ve been missing out! When done correctly, subscribe and save lets you save an extra 15% off all the items in your subscription.

Now, a lot of the things available through subscribe and save are things that I don’t buy, but there are also quite a few healthy living items! Actually finding these items can be difficult, so I wanted to share what healthy living items I currently save extra on by buying through subscribe and save.

How Subscribe & Save Works

Your subscribe and save delivery arrives at the same time each month. Sometimes it shows up in multiple boxes, spanning several days, but the important thing to know is that you can’t change the general delivery window. So, if you miss the deadline for adding to your order, you’ll have to wait a whole month to get the item at the special subscribe and save price. All items are also available without subscribe and save, of course, but you only get a discount if you sign up for it through subscribe and save.

When you sign up for a subscription on an item, you can choose to have it delivered as frequently as every month or as seldom as every six months. You can always change this at a later date, too.

If you think you won’t need to buy the item again, I’d still consider signing up for a subscription. You can cancel your subscription once you receive the item, and there is no penalty for cancelling a subscription. (Just make sure you leave yourself a reminder to cancel before your next subscription arrives!)

The standard subscribe and save discount is only 5%. In order to get 15% off, you need to have at least 5 items in your shipment. Take some time to play around with your subscribed items to see if you can get the 15% off every month.This may mean getting one item a little earlier than you need it, for instance, and then skipping the next month entirely.

Periodically review the prices on your subscribe and save items to make sure that they’re still competitive. While Amazon has incredible deals on some items, other things are also WAY overpriced. Do a little research to make sure that you’re not paying more than you should. I usually check out prices on Target’s website to make sure I’m not overpaying at Amazon.

What I Buy from Amazon Subscribe & Save

At the time I’m writing this post, the following are what I purchase from Amazon subscribe and save:

Corn pasta: We’re gluten-free and Jesse can’t eat rice, so we love this gluten-free corn pasta. It’s not organic, but it is GMO-free, which I believe is the bigger concern with corn.

Organic diced tomatoes: Organic diced tomatoes are one of the few canned things that I buy. This brand is BPA-free.

<arel=”nofollow” href=”http://amzn.to/2eOOiUm” target=”_blank”>Dishwasher tablets: I prefer to use green cleaning products, and these Ecover dishwasher tablets work really well for us.

Cacao powder: This raw cacao powder is currently the least expensive that I’ve seen. I buy it in a 5 lb. bag because price is the best at that size, but you can also get it in a 2 lb. bag if 5 lbs. sounds intimidating. 🙂

Dandelion root: Dandelion root is another herb that promotes liver health. I use dandelion root to make dandelion decoctions. (You can learn about decoctions and other ways to use dandelion roots in this post from Commensense Home.)

What items do you buy from Amazon subscribe and save?

Costco is one of my best tools for saving money on real food. If you’re a longtime Costco shopper, you’ve probably noticed that in the last few years they’ve been making a BIG push to add more organic and natural products. While I’ve been buying real food at Costco for years, Costco shopping has started to comprise more and more of my food budget because they offer so many great real food deals.

Tips for Buying Real Food at Costco

Costco’s inventory varies quite a bit from store to store. If your Costco doesn’t sell an item that you want, you can request that they start carrying it.…

We go through a lot of coconut milk/cream in my house. While I started out buying canned coconut milk at Whole Foods or Sprouts, I eventually realized that that wasn’t the healthiest or most cost-effective option. If you’re new to incorporating coconut products into your diet, I wanted to share what I’ve learned about shopping for coconut milk over the last few years.

My Favorite Coconut Milk/Cream

Aroy-D is my favorite brand of coconut milk and cream. I like it because:

It has no preservatives, gums, or other potentially sketchy additives. Coconut is the only ingredient. This was a huge plus for me when I was on the GAPS diet.

There’s no getting around the fact that real food is expensive. Depending on what kind of food you were buying before, switching to real food may mean a significant increase in your grocery budget. There are, however, a few ways to save money on real food without sacrificing your standards on food quality. Here are my 10 favorite tips.

One of the hardest parts of switching to real food is finding affordable places to buy that food. I really enjoy sharing the good deals I get at Costco, so today I thought I’d share another resource in my real food arsenal: Azure Standard.

How Azure Standard Works

Azure Standard is natural and organic foods retailer that delivers food by truck to pickup locations across the western United States. At the moment they deliver to most states west of Missouri, as well as to a few more eastern states. Depending on where you live, there may be a drop point quite close to your home.…